I'm sure those murdered prositutes in GTA are over 18. Otherwise Gawker would be worried about their being exploited.

Charming stuff. Is there a special reason our hero sounds like Borat Sagdiyev?

@SarahHeartburn: Really? All of us?

"This isn't about exploitation or morality. "
[gawker.com]

I can't believe I watched all of that.

@Ryan Tate: No, I was thinking about Hamilton's post yesterday. I hadn't seen yours, which Iive now skimmed and rather agree with. And I don't expect a straight editorial line from a blog (or print, for that matter).You've each got your opinions. It does kind of surprise me that a lot of the reviews talk about the sex, without also mentioning the fact that they prostitutes are murdered right after. Granted, I know that GTA is not a Merchant Ivory Production (I don't like them either, by the way).

This game is pure awesome.

Disgusting, irresponsible, misogynist, inhumane, stomach churning, saddening, maddening, hurtful ... etc.

If you know your art history, this is nothing new. It's just polygons now, instead of oil-on-canvas.

I'm perhaps being a tad too intellectual about this. Boobies!

@SarahHeartburn: No worries, I just like to link to myself. (Why does that sound so dirty?)

The thing with the prostitute-running-over is that, though it's become practically a GTA tradition, it's totally up to the player, and not necessary to win, in fact it makes it harder. Or at least that's the way it worked the last time I played any of those games, five years ago.

We are exposed to an inordinate amount of violence and disturbing imagery in this world, but when it becomes part of a fictionalized and hyper-realistic visual narrative that, I presume, glorifies it, I can't help but wonder not only how craven and depraved we've become, but just how this kind of material affects the impressionable mind, and that of the sociopath.

What a remarkably, shockingly grotesque and vile toy.

Do video games now come (argh) with xxx ratings? If my sons (11 & 14) ask for this I might just hurt them.

Which 90s East Village drag queen superstar wrote this hooker dialogue, though? Formica?

Somewhere Eliot Spitzer is thinking "If I had just run her over, there wouldn't be a problem and I'd still be governor."

@BalknChain: My son is almost 3. Do you think by the time he's 11 they'll have genocide-themed games?

@Twerpsichore: At least. I'm sure by that time they'll be at full immersion interactive mode where you can, and will, be eaten by some undead, possibly Jewish, (cause they'll be naked too, so you'll know) zombie and/or Paris Hilton.

@rtisovec: At least he would have gotten his money back.

I call sexism! What has this would come to when you can't find a decent gay male prostitute to run over in your video game? Y'know, I didn't run into this problem with Super-Mario Cart. I'm just sayin'.

In the future ho's will have big honkin' hips.

This game is so accurate. You can't walk through Flushing Meadows without tripping over a dead hooker.

@Ryan Tate: Oh, I see. And how many extra points do you get for a truck-dragging lynching?@BalknChain: Well, if they ask for it, take them outside and chase them around with the car.

@SarahHeartburn: ha! Good idea. I don't have any hookers handy so I'll plow over a sordidly dressed neighbor.

@WackoJacko: Just so you know, this stuff isn't even a relevant part of the game for most players. Getting a hooker in the game isn't necessary and for most players is a waste of time. Killing them certainly isn't required - but is a way to get your money back. Anyway, people might try this once for the novely of it, but a 1 minute diversion in a game that requires 60 hours to complete (without doing the side-missions) is hardly representative of the content.

@WackoJacko: I totally agree. It rules!

I only watched this to see what I will soon be witnessing in my home.

@Twerpsichore: Considering that over 20 years ago they had games that featured much, much worse, if not as graphically advanced, it seems a moot point.

The bottom line is kids shouldn't have this. Period. I don't care how many R movies they've seen, and that's all this would be rated if it was a movie.

@BalknChain: The makers themselves have been quoted this week saying, "If you let your kids play this, you're a bad parent."

So...I guess that's their unofficial disclaimer.

Disgusting.

@Twerpsichore: There already is such a game.

[www.introversion.co.uk]

Someone linked to it the other day.

how does the bad man shoot the girl on the ball field w/o shooting out his own windshield? this game is so unrealistic.

@nedzo: Shooting is done out the side window.

Let me be the first to say: I'd hit it.

@LeGagneur: I can't look.

@BalknChain: XXX? nothing in that clip would have rated higher than R in a movie and the game is rated the equivilant of R (M for mature i.e. not 11 or 14).

@McCheeburger: Toy? Toy?? Maybe a long time ago but a video gamers average age is 35, the average age for those that buy games is 40. So why is this a toy? Why does making it interactive any different than a book or a movie, or anything along those lines. This is simply entertainment.

The scene with hookers and hitting them to get your money back is one thing out of 1000 things you can do in this game. It's designed for adults, it's like playing your own action movie. Women Romance novels are more sexually explicit than ANY game.

@BalknChain: Good, you shouldn't allow your sons to play this. The big M on the box stands for Mature Audiences, as in 17+. It even says that too for those who can't understand ratings.

@MartyPants: It's no different than Stephen King saying don't let your kids read IT. Why is there such a divide over video games?

The fact of the matter is games are here to stay, they have almost surpassed movies in annual revenue (almost). They are rated so that people know what to expect, no different than movies or ratings in TV. Games are not designed for kids on a whole. There are a ton of Mature games out there designed for Mature audiences.

I know that when I was 11 I couldn't even play Doom 1. The game was out before ratings were even really regulated it was rated PC-13. My Dad played it, saw you shot people with a shotgun and said no. It's a simple as that people. Jesus find something else to riot about.

This is clearly adult material. Adults have just as much right to play this game as they do to read Playboy or Hustler, or to watch R and X rated movies, or to smoke or drink. Just like any other adult activity, it is up to responsible parents to be aware of what their child is doing and to prevent them from accessing games like this or Playboy or X-rated movies.

This game has a "M" rating which means it is intended for players 17 and older. Every XBox 360 and PS3 console has a parental control system that will prevent any game rated above whatever level the parent sets from even loading.

The problem is that STILL many people think of gaming as an activity for children, and they think of consoles as toys. They buy their children a console, and don't even bother to read about the easily accessed, password protected, parental controls.

The truth is that the average age of a gamer today is over 25 years old. We don't want to play Hello Kitty games. Last night I played this game. I beat up a Rabbi and stoled his wallet and laughed my ass off because it was fun. Today I went to work, did my job; and never once had an uncontrollable urge to mug anyone.

It's just entertainment folks. If it's not your cup of tea; don't play it, and don't let your kids play it.

@BalknChain:
They come with an AO (adult only) rating, but none of the consoles allow them in America. In Asian countries where people are much less repressed and not so obsessed with controlling what other adults are allowed to do, AO games are sold.